Deftly interweaving humor and pathos, Saul Bellow evokes in the climactic events of one day the full drama of one man's search to affirm his own wo...
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Dec 16, 2009
The only Bellow novel I've read to date. I didn't especially care for it as I was reading it, but came to think more and more highly of it in the weeks after I finished it. Bellow has an almost uncanny power of description, and the character Tamkin must be one of the great creations of twentieth-century American literature (especially his poem, "Mechanism vs. Functionalism: Ism vs. Hism"). But what really impressed me about the book was realizing that it's really a profound religiou
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Apr 11, 2011
Peter
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I'm on a bit of a novella reading binge at the moment, in preparation for a class I'm teaching next fall. And if this temporary obsession brings me to more books like SEIZE THE DAY, maybe it will become a lasting obsession.
Reading Saul Bellow is dangerous business for a writer because unless you are one of about five living authors I can think of, your sentences will never be as beautiful as Saul Bellow's. In fact it might be best just to say that out loud before sitting down to wri More...
Reading Saul Bellow is dangerous business for a writer because unless you are one of about five living authors I can think of, your sentences will never be as beautiful as Saul Bellow's. In fact it might be best just to say that out loud before sitting down to wri More...
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Dec 20, 2008
Mark
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Bellow is an author I have been meaning to get to for a long time now. Known for attention to detail and his intense characterization using physical attributes he is certainly one of the most respected authors of the 20th Century. Seize the Day is about one man's epiphany while mired in a life that just isn't measuring up to his and other's expectations. A failed actor, failed business man, failed husband, failed son and failed father our protagonist has not met much success despite his being a
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Jan 19, 2008
Nina
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I liked this book. It is about a man in his 40s whose life is falling apart and who is facing failure, and his relationship with his successful father who is a proud, well-respected doctor consumed with the idea of death in his old age. The entire (though short) book takes place in one day. I thought the book was very well-written and that Bellow really got at the psychological depth of these two people and their relationship with his insane attention to the most telling but minute details of
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Dec 03, 2011
Isabel
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Tamkin was a charlatan, and furthermore he was desperate. And furthermore, Wilhelm had always known it about him. But he appeared to have worked it out at the back of his mind that Tamkin for thirty or forty years had gotten though many a tight place, that he would get through this crisis too and bring him, Wilhelm, to safety also. And Wilhelm realized that he was on Tamkin's back. It made him feel that he had virtually left the ground and was riding upon the other man. He was in the air. It was
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Dec 26, 2011
Kelli
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This novella, which took me longer to read than Pride and Prejudice, was not a quick and easy read. The picture depicted on the front cover of a man looking up at the very tall RCA Building (ominous/overbearing) and my memories of the phrase "seize the day" from the movie "The Dead Poet's Society" (suicide) set a tone to this novella - maybe unjustly. I felt the despair and desperation of Tommy Wilhelm from the start. His life was miserable and he could not seem to do anyt
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Dec 15, 2011
James
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I adored this book. What vitality and insight!
I think this book is basically a struggle between a father and a son. The son, Tommy Wilhelm, seems to be in the wrong (a slob who was irresponsibly narcissistic when he tried to be a movie star), yet because he is the protagonist, we identify with him and we are challenged to see how he could be in the right.
I think the way he's right is that there is a part of each of us that wants to fail, that feels sad, that wants to be child More...
I think this book is basically a struggle between a father and a son. The son, Tommy Wilhelm, seems to be in the wrong (a slob who was irresponsibly narcissistic when he tried to be a movie star), yet because he is the protagonist, we identify with him and we are challenged to see how he could be in the right.
I think the way he's right is that there is a part of each of us that wants to fail, that feels sad, that wants to be child More...
Oct 09, 2011
David
rated it:
I can’t decide if Bellow’s choice of title was sincere or ironic. Carpe diem, Horace writes, quam minimum credula postero. Seize the day, put little faith in tomorrow. For Tommy Wilhelm, Bellow’s protagonist, his guide to the future is an occasionally insightful, often deceptive psychologist, Dr. Tamakin. Together, Wilhelm and Tamakin speculate on agricultural futures. (The spiritual emptiness of this profession reminds me of Faulkner’s Jason Compson). But betting on the future brings only
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Jul 05, 2011
Bob
rated it:
If you've ever lived between 70th and 80th Street near Broadway in New York, you might enjoy the geographic specificity of this book, set when the Ansonia was already a landmark but people (other than the mentally ill) still lived in residence hotels and men wore hats. It has an almost classical unity of 10 city blocks, half a day and three main characters. A failed salesman in early middle age, whose made a hash of most of his life, lives in the same residence hotel as his unsympathetic father,
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May 30, 2011
Fred
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Originally published in 1957, Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day is considered one of the twentieth century’s finest works of fiction. It chronicles a single day in the life of one Tommy Wilhelm, a failed middle-aged actor, living on a precipice. Out of work, nearly broke, and estranged from his wife and children, he is haunted by all of the setbacks in his life and is searching for salvation in the form of an easy financial win that will solve all of his problems. On the advice of a mysterious psycho
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Feb 26, 2011
Northpapers
rated it:
Before I get into Saul Bellow's little powerhouse of a novel, a word about introductions, forewords, and prefaces.
Unless I finish a novel with a feeling of wonder, I rarely read the introduction. Any kind of foreword usually functions to inflate the page count, advertise the book (why, if I'm already reading a book, do I need to read an ad for it?), and attach some big shot author's name with the work at hand.
However, there are those few introductions which function as gr More...
Unless I finish a novel with a feeling of wonder, I rarely read the introduction. Any kind of foreword usually functions to inflate the page count, advertise the book (why, if I'm already reading a book, do I need to read an ad for it?), and attach some big shot author's name with the work at hand.
However, there are those few introductions which function as gr More...
Feb 08, 2011
Josh
rated it:
The main character, Wilhelm, is the epitome of self-perpetuated failure. This is hard to sympathize with because I (and I assume other people as well) don't want to feel like I'm engendering, and thriving within, my own disappointments. The book is completely engaging and the last two pages make the whole thing worth it. The ending is very, very moving. I'm reading Bellow because Philip Roth said I should, so I have to admit I may be judging this novel with unfair expectations. I don't quite see
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Nov 13, 2010
Mark
rated it: 
I am not sure my comments belong in such erudite company, but I consider myself a reader. This is the first Bellow I have attempted, and it was a disappointment. There is obviously skill here, but the characters and descriptions just didn't ring true for me. I suppose I took it too literally. I can't imagine a father so heartless and so hateful to a son. His wife is a total bitch. There was NO empathy. Tommy keeps having these physical symptoms that almost occupy the entire book. He has
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Jun 11, 2010
Judy
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This was Bellow's next work of fiction after The Adventures of Augie March (1953). It is that problematic piece of fiction called the "novella," somewhere between a short story and a novel. In fact, it was published in a volume containing an additional three short stories and a one-act play. Even over fifty years ago, publishers worried that the public would not pay the price of a whole book for such a short work. Of course, since Bellow packs so much in just a sentence, this is not a
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May 17, 2010
Rowland
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The Predicament of Modern Man
Seize the day is a reflection of the times in which it was written. The novel was written in a post-war world. WWII created several factors that serve as a backdrop to Wilhelm's isolation in the novel, an isolation that represents the feeling of many during the time period.
First and foremost, war creates dissolution and in many cases dislocation because of forced immigration. During the war many people, Jews especially, were escaping the Germans an More...
Seize the day is a reflection of the times in which it was written. The novel was written in a post-war world. WWII created several factors that serve as a backdrop to Wilhelm's isolation in the novel, an isolation that represents the feeling of many during the time period.
First and foremost, war creates dissolution and in many cases dislocation because of forced immigration. During the war many people, Jews especially, were escaping the Germans an More...
Apr 17, 2010
Dennis
rated it:
Bellow, Saul. Seize the Day (1956)
A short novel, representative of Bellow's work
"Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow" is what Horace wrote at the end of his first book of Odes a couple of thousand years ago. And ever since, youth has been urged to make hay while the sun shines since the bird of time is on the wing--to toss in a couple more homilies. But what Saul Bellow has in mind here is entirely ironic since his sad protagonist, Tommy Wilhelm Adler has neve More...
A short novel, representative of Bellow's work
"Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow" is what Horace wrote at the end of his first book of Odes a couple of thousand years ago. And ever since, youth has been urged to make hay while the sun shines since the bird of time is on the wing--to toss in a couple more homilies. But what Saul Bellow has in mind here is entirely ironic since his sad protagonist, Tommy Wilhelm Adler has neve More...
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May 20, 2009
Jim
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Apolgies in advance for skipping over the plot summary, but here's what I think I learned from this book:
1) Bellow, like Banville, is a master of characterization, the expression of character through movement, reaction, idiosyncrasies, etc. It's not just what they look like and what they're wearing (though this is important) it's what these things say about the character and how they're expressed through speech, interaction with others, moments of isolation, etc. It can't be all wood More...
1) Bellow, like Banville, is a master of characterization, the expression of character through movement, reaction, idiosyncrasies, etc. It's not just what they look like and what they're wearing (though this is important) it's what these things say about the character and how they're expressed through speech, interaction with others, moments of isolation, etc. It can't be all wood More...
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Aug 24, 2010
Lobstergirl
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Bellow is a treat even if you don't completely swoon over every novel in its entirety. His descriptions, his dialogue, his portrayals of humanity are so rich. This novella is told from the point of view of the increasingly shabby and morose failed actor and salesman, Tommy Wilhelm, but Bellow also lets us in on what his disapproving father, Dr. Adler, thinks.
Then Wilhelm had said, "Yes, that was the beginning of the end, wasn't it, Father?"More...
Wilhelm often astoni
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May 14, 2010
Adam
rated it:
Despite its short length and clear plot, "Seize the Day" is deceivingly difficult to pin down, as any morals one would attempt to derive from what, at its surface, may appear to be a moralistic story, are convoluted and unclear. At times, this novel seemed like a borderline self-help book, only to take an unexpected left turn into emotional obscurity and blunt emphasis on life's drudgeries. This isn't to say that "Seize the Day" is nihilistic either; it's excellently shaped
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Dec 15, 2009
Harold
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I loved this book and commend it to someone interested in sampling Bellow. Unlike "Herzog"and the formidable "Adventures of Augie March," the rich and engaging prose in this small novella is easily accessible. "Seize" is populated by only a few, but all memorable, characters. I'm not sure I would have loved this as a younger dino (say in my early Pennsylvanian period), but this year it resonates.
Tommy Wilhelm was born Wilhelm ("Wilky") Adler More...
Tommy Wilhelm was born Wilhelm ("Wilky") Adler More...
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Aug 17, 2011
Fleech
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Tommy Wilhelm is disliked by his wife, who refuses to divorce him, and his father, who refuses to aid him finically and starves him of any type of affection. His stressful financial situation leaves him in a panic, and he turns to Dr. Tamkin as his last resort. Dr. Tamkin is a wily man, no one knows if he is a doctor, and if there is there is any truth behind his exaggerated stories.
Wilhelm wants to be freed from his chaotic life, and continually asks his father, Dr. Adler, for assist More...
Wilhelm wants to be freed from his chaotic life, and continually asks his father, Dr. Adler, for assist More...
Apr 20, 2011
Nick
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I super liked it .... Not because Bellow was born in Canada, not because he got the Nobel Prize in 1976 ... This relatively short novel makes a lot out of an apparently simple picture. The main character, Tommy Wilhelm, has to ultimately deal with problems by himself - there is no family to help him out. Saul Bellow proposes a very interesting situation, especially in the self-reliant American society.
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Nov 22, 2010
Fabian
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This novella about the morning hours in the life of a man that is falling apart is authentic New York narrative AND somber urban fable. Written in '56, it is still supremely relevant and I bet there are dozens, perhaps thousands, of Tommy Wilhems out there in the world, and they are all MODERN MEN; Wilhem is a man confused and, in the same vein as lame-o Holden C., one unhappy with his placement in society, who is also questioning his duties as a "man." The episode between Wilhem and h
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Jun 28, 2011
Kelly
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"...since there were depths in Wilhelm not unsuspected by himself, he received a suggestion from some remote element in his thoughts that the business of life, the real business -- to carry his peculiar burden, to feel shame and impotence, to taste these quelled tears -- the only important business, the highest business was being done. Maybe the making of mistakes expressed the very purpose of his life and the essence of his being here. Maybe he was supposed to make them and suffer from t
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Nov 10, 2010
Kendall
rated it:
It was pretty good. I liked how not many big events happend. Instead there were many small things that built up to the epiphany for the character. All the events were more subtle. To get the meaning out of the events you'd have to think more deeply and take in them all together in a broad spectrum. I didn't like the lack of characters. Only three characters were actually important in the novel. I think that the novel should've contained more chacters, but I can see how that with just the few it
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Feb 24, 2009
Tara
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It's been about a week since I finished this book, and have picked up two new books in the meantime, so my first thoughts are a bit hazy and lost to other curiosities. However, the thing about the book that has stuck with me - and will no doubt lead me to re-reading it in later years - is its examination of American ideals and the internal grapplings of a human soul. How wonderfully fresh and true this story remains today, over 50 years after it was written! Tommy, the novel's protagonist, must
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Jan 12, 2011
sonia
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Poco puedo añadir a lo que ya se ha dicho. Wilhelm es un perdedor, un hombre que parece no hacer otra cosa que equivocarse, y por eso me causó cierta simpatía desde un primer momento. Él también lo cree, también piensa que fracaso tras fracaso nunca aprende, aunque reflexione sobre qué hacer siempre comete una equivocación. Luego avanzo por la novela y me parece cada vez más entrañable, aunque triste toda su historia.
Él no sabe muy bien si culparse a sí mismo, a otros, o a una suerte de des More...
Él no sabe muy bien si culparse a sí mismo, a otros, o a una suerte de des More...
Nov 10, 2010
Andrew
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I have enjoyed this book very much. Unlike many books, this book talks what the main character, Tommy Wilhelm, experienced in his one day. Tommy is considered as a complete failure from his father and feel isloated from community. Unhappy marriage with no job, Tommy is in a tight situation. Many emotions felt by this character at once is unbearing and I feel his pain. For some reason, I can sort of relate to him how sometimes we feel lonely and feel like we are looked down upon.
In t More...
In t More...
Mar 11, 2009
Meg
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This is a tough one...I couldn't decided if I liked it or not! Two or three stars...? Hmmmmmn, that is the question. I bumped up because I admired the author's writing style. And the story? Yes, I liked that too... I could related to the character (where depression is putting it mildly) although he was male and most likely in the middle of what is too simply called a "midlife crisis". This is a book that could be analyzed, metaphors could be taken from it, lives could possibly b
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Apr 29, 2010
I'm having a hard time giving this one a star rating, mostly because it's more philosophy than novel. Saul Bellow does have the amazing ability to make you see and understand everything from Wilhelm's point of view. The reader is completely immersed in Wilky's brain. I saw everything from Wilky's point of view as I was reading, even though after I finished and thought about it a bit, I realized that I think a little bit more like his wife than him. He is hoping that everything will just work out
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